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Writer-director J.C. Chandor has made three good movies in a row, and they're his first three. He's a heartening exception to the usual percentages. His first, "Margin Call," compressed an epoch's worth of financial meltdowns and ruinous corruption into a few long, involving late-night conversations performed by all sorts of skillful actors dressed like people you'd trust with your money. His second, "All Is Lost," was as terse as "Margin Call" was yakky, putting Robert Redford alone against the ocean's elements. And now we have a third good movie, more like his first than his second, but carving out expansive new territory for...

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Writer-director J.C. Chandor has made three good movies in a row, and they're his first three. He's a heartening exception to the usual percentages.
His first, "Margin Call," compressed an epoch's worth of financial meltdowns and ruinous...

Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o has been cast in the upcoming "Star Wars: Episode VII," Walt Disney Co's Lucasfilm said on Monday.
Nyong'o, whose first film role last year in "12 Years a Slave," earned her the Academy Award for...

A trio of actors with deep Chicago ties have been added to the cast of the HBO mini-series "Show Me a Hero," the latest project from David Simon.
Longtime TV actor Jim Belushi, Steppenwolf co-founder Terry Kinney and Lakeview native and...

August 2013: Chicago actress Allison Tolman, unemployed and doing temp work in the mornings, stops by her agent's office to tape an audition for the new FX series "Fargo."
August 2014: Tolman is headed to the Emmys.
That's quite a 12-month...

CANNES, France — Whatever its commercial fortunes when it opens in the U.S. this December, "Inside Llewyn Davis" already has won the acclaim sought so ardently by the fictional folk singer of its title, the latest charismatic loser in a long,...

We keep coming back to "Therese Raquin" for the same reason Emile Zola's 1867 novel of adultery and murder, which ascribed its anti-heroine's amorality to her "hot" African blood, stirred the imaginations of Theodore Dreiser...

The largely engaging class-reunion dramedy "10 Years" allows audiences to pretend they went to high school with the likes of Channing Tatum, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie and Kate Mara. But at some point, they are also going to...

Bored and visibly sneering as she fiddles with her cellphone while sitting at her desk, the grade school teacher barely takes notice of the sweet young girl challenged by learning disabilities. The student stands nervously before the blackboard,...

"There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?" So asks the first teaser trailer, appropriately enough, for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," director J.J. Abrams' highly anticipated update of the classic space-opera franchise.
...

Oscar Isaac is set for another violent year — this time in 2016. The 35-year-old actor will play the titular world-ending villain in "X-Men: Apocalypse," Fox's upcoming installment of the blockbuster franchise based on the Marvel Comics...

Conventional wisdom would tell you the Oscar acting races are, for the most part, all but settled. And we haven't even carved the Thanksgiving turkey! But then, last November's conventional wisdom had Tom Hanks, Robert Redford and Emma Thompson as...

Ambiguity is the intrigue in "The Two Faces of January," the new thriller starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac.
Acclaimed writer Hossein Amini, making his feature directing debut, sets it up beautifully on a sun-washed day in...

Filmmaker J.C. Chandor walked onstage Thursday night at the Dolby Theatre to introduce his new movie, the crime drama "A Most Violent Year," the gala opener of this year's AFI Fest.
Pointing to a seat near the front, Chandor noted: "The...

APRIL 30
The M Word
At a struggling Los Angeles TV station, a children's show actress leads her female colleagues as new management arrives from New York on a cost-cutting mission. With Tanna Frederick, Michael Imperioli and Gregory Harrison. Written...

For two years, Mark Hamill kept a secret he learned in Orlando.
"Star Wars" mastermind George Lucas had invited Hamill and Carrie Fisher to lunch and asked them to reprise their roles of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in a planned...

It looks as though the Millennium Falcon will have some company in the "Star Wars: Episode VII" hangar.
In a new video from the London set of the space-opera sequel (you can watch above), director J.J. Abrams provides a glimpse of a weathered...

Don't get him wrong: Even after more than 50 years in the business, Robert Redford was thrilled early Thursday to hear he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. But that didn't mean he was ready to let the news interrupt his sleep schedule.
When news...

Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave," the acclaimed, unflinching look at the brutality of slavery in America, earned the most nominations Tuesday for the 29th Film Independent Spirit Awards. The film received seven nominations, including best...

In a season of outstanding performances wrapped up in awards possibilities, the little gems can too easily be overlooked. So once again, it is time to appreciate some of the actors whose gifts have shone bright in big films this year, even if only for a...